Chess games with his father were often won by using a quiet attack to the side of the board. If Gideon were here, Cain would let him negotiate a way inside first to read the look in Hannah’s eyes. But his brother was in Edinburgh trying to uncover any secrets Ella may have. Damn.

“We ride forward,” Cain said. “The three of us. And demand we see that she is safe. I must get her down on the ground before us.”

Joshua made a grunting sound that came from the back of his throat. If it came to all-out war, Cain would let him decide the movement, but when there was a chance to win the day without sacrificing their sister, Cain would decide how to conquer this problem.

He raised two fingers high in the air, which brought the second-in-command in each herd forward. “Keep the armies ready for my signal,” he said. “We will go forward first. If we cannot talk Hannah out of there, then we attack, pushing through the gates and killing all who stand at the walls so we can breach them.”

“And once she is safe?” Joshua asked.

“We kill Hew Mackay, and those who defend him, at the first chance,” Cain said, his words solid.

The brothers rode forward until they sat their mounts fifty yards from the wall where Hew stood next to Hannah. Her eyes were round and seemed to glisten, but Cain was too far away to know for certain if she wept. Fury beat at his reserve, but he held it off in order to work out the best plan.

“Hannah Sinclair,” Cain called out. “Ye will come forward to greet your brothers.”

“She is my betrothed,” Hew said. He had bathed and wore a clean white shirt. It would become his death shroud.

“If she desires it,” Cain said. “But I must speak with her here before me.”

“She fears her brother of death will lop off her head for helping me escape,” Hew said.

“An absolute lie,” Joshua murmured, for Bàs’s sake, since Cain picked out the obvious falsehood immediately. Hannah knew Bàs loved her and would never harm her; none of them would.

Hew leaned over the low wall. “I will consider the price ye dictated for my freedom to be her dowry. We will be even.” He placed his arm around her shoulders. “And we will be united. The three powerful clans of the north: Mackay, Sutherland, and Sinclair. ’Tis a perfect plan.”

“Except I have not agreed to the wedding,” Cain said, “and I am her guardian.” He drew upon all his discipline to keep his voice neutral. To antagonize Hew Mackay further would make him take Hannah inside to horrors unknown.